EyeWorld Today is the official daily of the ASCRS Symposium & Congress. Each issue provides comprehensive coverage editorial coverage of meeting presentations, events, and breaking news
Issue link: https://daily.eyeworld.org/i/497881
EW SHOW DAILY 10 Saturday, April 18, 2015 ASCRS News Today A 3-day Technicians & Nurses Program will bring a leading faculty of ophthalmologists, nurses, ophthalmic technicians, and consultants to teach on current cataract and refractive surgery topics at the 2015 ASCRS•ASOA Sympo- sium & Congress. The program, developed by the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO) in collaboration with ASCRS, focuses on key trends, technologies, and best practices for nurses and ophthalmic techni- cians. Expert instructors will discuss state-of-the-art treatments and give practical steps for use in everyday practice. Highlights of this year's program include: • Femtosecond Laser Cataract Surgery – Douglas Koch, MD • DMEK: Next Advance in Corneal Transplantation – Parag Majmudar, MD • Ocular Toxicity from Systemic Medications – Komal Desai, MD • Current Trends and Advances in Glaucoma Treatment – John Huang, MD • Corneal Crosslinking – James Salz, MD • Refractive Surgery: How to Meet Patient Expectations – Robin Vann, MD • Care and Handling of Ophthalmic Surgical Instruments – Lori Pacheco, RN, CRNO • Statistics for the ASC Professional – Elethia Dean, RN • Post Refractive Surgery IOL Calculations – Rhonda Waldron, COMT, CRA, ROUB, CDOS "The Technicians & Nurs- es Program has a broad range of educational courses from the latest updates on coding and reimburse- ment, managing difficult patients, EHR, disease, diagnosis and treat- ment," said Karl Golnik, MD, MEd, JCAHPO president. "This program is an important opportunity in the eyecare team's professional develop- ment. It offers essential education at the basic, intermediate, and ad- vanced level of learning to meet the clinic's training needs for its techni- cal staff." More than 20,000 ophthalmic allied health personnel are certified worldwide at one of JCAHPO's 3 core levels: Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA), Certified Ophthal- mic Technician (COT), and Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technologist (COMT). JCAHPO is well known for providing and developing quality education, simulation and skill training offered in classroom settings or online. With its new EyeCareCE online learning website, JCAHPO and 6 ophthalmic allied health organizations have forged an alliance to provide more than 300 online courses for the entire eyecare team. The Technicians & Nurses Pro- gram has been approved for a total of 36 JCAHPO credits, with a maxi- mum of 18 JCAHPO Group A credits per registrant. Additional Group B credits are available by attending physician courses/symposia/paper sessions at ASCRS that are designat- ed for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit. Select courses have been approved for 7.5 OPS and 36 AOC credits. The program is also approved by the Cal- ifornia Board of Registered Nursing for 33 contact hours. EW World-class faculty featured at Technicians & Nurses Program in San Diego Ensemble group Gen8 to perform at ASCRS Opening General Session C alifornia-based ensemble group Gen8 will give a rousing start to the ASCRS Opening General Session (OGS) this morning. Gen8 will perform starting at 9:30 a.m., prior to the 10 a.m. OGS. Gen8 performs an eclectic mix of music, including jazz, R&B, 50s rock, modern rock, pop, hip hop, and contemporary music. Find out more about Gen8 at www.elanartists.com/gen8. The ASCRS OGS will include presidents' addresses, honored guests, an ASCRS Foundation update, the Ophthalmology Hall of Fame inductees, and the ASCRS Binkhorst Lecture. The OGS will take place in ballroom 20ABC of the San Diego Convention Center. EW Annual review sessions at the ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress assist those preparing for the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO) certification examinations T he Association of Technical Personnel in Ophthalmol- ogy (ATPO) conducted its annual written exam review courses on Friday, April 17, for the Certified Ophthalmic Assistant (COA), Certified Ophthal- mic Technician (COT), and Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technologist (COMT) exams. ATPO has pro- vided certification review courses at ASCRS for nearly 10 years and assisted thousands of ophthalmic technicians to gain the confidence and skills needed to prepare for the JCAHPO certification examinations. The COA, COT, and COMT certification review courses offered during the meeting are designed to serve as an overview of content areas covered on the JCAHPO certification exams. Each session is taught by a qualified and experienced JCAHPO certified instructor who provides attendees with an overview of the exam content areas and offers help- ful tips and suggestions for attend- ees who are completing their final preparation for the exam. COA, COT, and COMT content areas reviewed during the sessions included: • History taking • Pupillary assessment • Contact lenses • Equipment maintenance and repair • Lensometry • Keratometry • Medical ethics, legal and regulatory issues • Microbiology • Pharmacology • Ocular motility • Assisting in surgical procedures • Ophthalmic patient services and education • Ophthalmic imaging • Refractometry • Spectacle skills • Supplemental skills • Tonometry • Visual assessment • Visual fields ATPO also offers practical, hands-on training sessions for the COT and COMT certification examinations at its annual meeting, which will be held at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas, November 13–16, in conjunction with the JCAHPO and American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meetings. For more information on ATPO, go to www.atpo.org. EW ATPO offers JCAHPO certification review sessions